Kenneth James Rennie Robertson
Kenneth James Rennie Robertson (1900-1937)
1937 Obituary [1]
KENNETH JAMES RENNIE ROBERTSON, whose untimely death occurred on 13th September 1937, was a director of Messrs. W. H. Owen, Ltd., and was particularly interested in the design of furnaces and the development of combustion processes.
He was born in Peterborough in 1900 and entered the University of Manchester as a Miles Walker scholar in 1918, where he graduated with honours in 1921. In the same year he was awarded a research scholarship, and in 1922 he obtained a bursary from the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition; he later gained the degree of M.Sc. During the next two years he served as an apprentice in the workshops and drawing office of the Partington Steel and Iron Company, Ltd., Irlam. He was then appointed chemical engineer to the Carrier Engineering Company, Ltd., Westminster, and took charge of development, research, and propaganda work in connection with heating, drying, and ventilating equipment.
In 1928 he was made departmental manager and took charge of the fuel economy section, with responsibility for the design, installation, and testing of fans, air preheaters, and coal- and oil-firing equipment. Mr. Robertson also designed an experimental plant for testing coke firing at various rates of combustion. In 1933 he commenced his association with Messrs. W. H. Owen.
He was elected a Student of the Institution in 1923 and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1929.